Most travelers land in Trondheim on their way somewhere else. The airport is a gateway to the Lofoten Islands or the northern lights circuit, and the city itself gets half a day if it is lucky. This is a mistake. Trøndelag, the county that surrounds Trondheim, was named European Region of Gastronomy in 2022, and the city has two Michelin-starred restaurants that most capitals twice its size cannot match. The food here is not an afterthought. It is the reason to stay.
The first thing to understand is geography. Trondheim sits at the mouth of the Nidelva river where it meets the Trondheimsfjord. The fjord brings cold, nutrient-rich water. The surrounding farmland produces lamb and root vegetables. The mountains supply reindeer and game. Chefs here work with what arrives within a two-hour radius, and they have been doing it seriously for about two decades. The result is a small city with a disproportionately sharp restaurant scene.
Start at Bakklandet, the old warehouse district on the east bank of the Nidelva. The wooden buildings here date from the 1700s and 1800s, and many now house cafés and restaurants. Bakklandet Skydsstation, at Nedre Bakklandet 60, occupies a former coaching station. The fish soup costs around 250 NOK and comes with salmon, shrimp, and mussels in a cream broth that is heavy but not gluey. The reindeer stew is on the menu year-round, though the kitchen sources the meat from Rørosrein in the south Sámi region. A three-course set menu runs about 650 NOK. The place fills by 12:30 PM on weekends, and they do not take reservations for lunch.
Walk five minutes along the river to Havfruen, in a converted warehouse at Kjøpmannsgata 75. The dining room has exposed wooden pillars and views of the water. The menu changes based on what the local fishermen land that morning. Expect halibut, Arctic char, and cod in various preparations. A main course costs 450–550 NOK. The wine list is better than it needs to be for a city this size. Dinner reservations are essential on Fridays and Saturdays.
For modern Nordic cooking without the white-tablecloth price, go to Kraft Bodega on Dronningens gate 11. Chef Håvard Klempe runs a seasonal menu that mixes local seafood with international techniques. The seafood crudo tostada and the gratinated mussel toast on sourdough are standout dishes. A four-course menu is around 1,100 NOK, and the à la carte mains run 350–450 NOK. The restaurant is loud, informal, and popular with local chefs after their own shifts end. It is open Tuesday through Saturday.
If you want to see where Trondheim's reputation was built, book a table at To Rom og Kjøkken on Carl Johans gate 5. The name means "Two Rooms and a Kitchen." It opened in 2005 and has been a fixture ever since. Roar Hildonen, the original chef, has handed the kitchen to his son Eskild and Andreas Sørlie Trøjgaard. The format is tasting menus: three courses at 950 NOK, five at 1,450 NOK, or seven at 1,850 NOK. The langoustine lollipops and the lobster ravioli with pumpkin XO sauce are signatures. Ingredients come from Trøndelag farms and coastal fishermen. Reserve at least two weeks ahead for weekend tables.
Trondheim has two Michelin-starred restaurants, which is absurd for a city of 215,000 people. Speilsalen at the Britannia Hotel, Dronningens gate 5, earned its star in February 2020, ten months after opening. Head chef Håkon Solbakk designs 12- to 16-course tasting menus around Norwegian ingredients with classical technique. The dining room is the hotel's original mirror hall from 1918—chandeliers, gilt, and reflected light. Dinner runs 2,500–3,200 NOK depending on the menu. There is a caviar bar seating four guests, and a chef's counter where you watch the kitchen work. Saturday champagne lunch is a five-course menu with bubbles on arrival, seating from 12:30 PM. Book three months out, or reserve one of the hotel's overnight packages that bundles the room, dinner, and wine pairing.
Fagn, on Ørjaveita 4, holds the city's other Michelin star. Chef Christopher Davidsen won silver at the Bocuse d'Or before opening this restaurant. He offers a four-course menu at 1,650 NOK or six courses at 2,250 NOK. The cooking is Nordic with global flavor references—expect local scallops, lamb from Namsskogan, and reindeer with fermented vegetables. Fagn also runs a bistro next door with a Bib Gourmand rating, serving simpler dishes at lower prices: three courses for around 850 NOK.
For breakfast or an afternoon coffee, go to Jacobsen & Svart in Arkitektenes Hus on Brattørgata 4. Tony Jacobsen has been roasting light-roast coffee since 2012 and moved into this location in 2021. A hand-brewed pour-over costs about 55 NOK. The selection changes seasonally—recently an Ethiopian Shakiso with notes of strawberry and florals. The shop also sells beans and equipment. It opens at 7:30 AM on weekdays.
Brunost, the caramelized whey cheese that divides visitors, is unavoidable in Trondheim. You will find it on breakfast buffets, shaved over waffles, and melted into sauces. The local variant from Trøndelag tends darker and more bitter than the commercial brands from the east. Try it at Sellanraa Bok & Bar, a bookstore-café at Arne Bergsgårds allé 4 that serves light lunches and coffee. A brunost-topped waffle with coffee costs around 120 NOK. The space doubles as a concert venue in the evenings.
Aquavit is the spirit of choice here, and it has been produced in Trøndelag for centuries. Inderøy Brenneri and ØX Brewery both make local versions. ØX runs a tap room on Ørjaveita 4 where you can taste aquavit alongside craft beer. A tasting flight of three spirits costs around 250 NOK. The Trøndersk Matfestival, held in late July and early August, features aquavit workshops, reindeer cooking demonstrations, and a public vote for the best dish of the year. The 2025 festival opened at Ravnkloa harbor on July 31. If you are in town during the festival, the guided food trail with tastings is worth the 400 NOK ticket.
For a cheaper meal, the Solsiden waterfront district has several mid-range options. Brasserie Britannia, also in the Britannia Hotel, serves French-influenced comfort food—croque monsieur, moules frites, onion soup—at brasserie prices. Mains run 250–350 NOK. It is open daily from 10 AM to midnight and does not require reservations. Grano, a pizza place on Kongens gate 15, does Neapolitan-style pies with Italian flour and Norwegian toppings. A whole pizza costs 180–220 NOK and they sell by the slice at lunch for 45 NOK.
The Trondheim Brewery Festival runs concurrently with the food festival in late July. Five local restaurants set up festival menus designed to pair with craft beer. E.C. Dahls Pub & Kjøkken, the brewery's own restaurant, serves American-style pub food—burgers, fries, mac and cheese—alongside their house beers. A burger and pint costs about 350 NOK.
King crab season runs from January through April, when the shellfish are harvested in the Barents Sea and trucked south. Some restaurants, including Havfruen and Speilsalen, feature king crab legs as specials during these months. Outside of season, you are eating frozen or paying a premium for live import. Cod is the reliable staple—fresh from the fjord, dried as klippfisk, or fermented as lutefisk if you are visiting in November or December.
A practical note on budgeting. Norway is expensive, and Trondheim is no exception. A casual lunch of soup and bread will cost 150–200 NOK. A proper dinner with wine at a mid-range restaurant runs 800–1,200 NOK per person. The Michelin places are 2,500–3,500 NOK with pairings. Beer in a bar is 90–120 NOK for 0.4 liters. If you want to eat well without draining your account, do what locals do: have a big lunch, eat waffles or a sandwich for dinner, and save one splurge meal for either Speilsalen or Fagn.
Trondheim's food scene is not large, but it is focused. The chefs here know their suppliers by name. The fishermen call the restaurants when the catch is good. The lamb comes from specific farms in Oppdal. This is not farm-to-table marketing. It is simply how the supply chain works in a region where the growing season is short and the distances are manageable. The result is food that tastes like where it came from, served in a city most people pass through without looking. Stay an extra day. Eat the langoustine. Drink the aquavit. Then continue north.
By Sophie Brennan
Irish food writer and historian based in Lisbon. Sophie combines her background in medieval history with a passion for contemporary gastronomy. She has written for Condé Nast Traveller and authored two cookbooks exploring Celtic and Iberian culinary traditions.